Gamescom 2011

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Updated Impressions

By Luke Anderson

Sonic is the fastest hedgehog on foot, but how does he fare when he's put behind the wheel of a racing car? Pretty good, it turns out.

Sonic's back again, but this time, he's switched his red running shoes for a shiny racing car. Sega All-Stars Racing is coming out early next year on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo DS and is being developed by Sumo Digital (GTI Club Plus, OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast, Virtua Tennis 2009). We checked out the PS3 version at GamesCom 2009 in Cologne, Germany.

What's New: There were a few new tracks on show at GamesCom, including the fun casino park roulette raceway level. This track harks back to Sonic the Hedgehog 2's Casino Night levels, and you get to race around roulette boards, pool tables, and other casino-themed games. All-Stars Racing's appeal will no doubt be its competitive multiplayer, and the game will support up to eight players on consoles (including four-player split-screen) and four players on the DS.

What's Different: We saw a few new characters this time around, including Sega stalwart Alex Kidd, Beat from Jet Set Radio Future, and Billy Hatcher. Alex's vehicle is a motorcycle, Beat has a souped-up racer complete with neon lights, and Billy gets an egg pod racer. Yes, that's right, an egg-shaped vehicle. Each vehicle matches the owner's style and will offer a different experience thanks to unique power moves. When the power move is executed, Alex Kidd's vehicle turns into his trademarked helicopter, and you can shoot at other competitors. Beat's move, on the other hand, lets you ride his skateboard and tag other enemies with spray paint. Billy's move is probably the most hilarious, though, and he rides atop a giant egg, crushing all opponents that get in his way.

What's the Same: The game's existing lineup looks like it'll be fun to play, and each character has his or her own individual vehicle, such as Amy's pink jalopy, Amigo's turbocharged maracamobile, Aiai's banana dune buggy, and Knuckle's ATV. It looks like there will be some interesting variety when it comes to the level themes too.

What Impression the Game Made This Time: The first thing we noticed about All-Stars Racing is how crisp the environments are, and things looked so smooth that we were surprised to discover it wasn't running at 60 frames per second. Both the characters and levels feature a bright colour palette, making the whole game look bright and cheery. The game looks like it will be a lot of fun, and we're glad to see some of Sega's less prominent characters making an appearance (note to Sega: please include Wonder Boy). Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is coming out in early 2010, and we hope to get hands-on with the racer at some stage before then.

By Luke Anderson

73 Comments

  • IloveSonic1234

    Posted Feb 10, 2010 2:17 pm GMT

    I played the game at my cusin's house,not all too bad,got a bit of annoying controls (for the 360) but mabe it's 'cuse I'm not used to the XBox360....not bad at all

  • stEElyDaN909

    Posted Feb 4, 2010 8:09 pm GMT

    What the hell is banjo-kazooie doing on the box art?!?!?

  • gamefreak197

    Posted Jan 19, 2010 3:24 pm GMT

    This better be good indeed!!

  • killeracer0210

    Posted Dec 26, 2009 11:15 pm GMT

    I am a Gran Turismo fan, I can't wait to get the DS version!, if I get this game, I would continue Gran Turismo.

  • Mimogrede

    Posted Dec 5, 2009 1:30 pm GMT

    what is this??
    have you ever seen sonic in a car??
    he can run faster than ANY car on earth, so this is jost stupid...

  • Keiner

    Posted Dec 4, 2009 7:25 pm GMT

    As of recent years sonic games have been very crap...lame at best. So I can't hold too much faith in this game. I may rent it but it has a lot of proving to do.

  • rabid1972

    Posted Nov 17, 2009 9:30 am GMT

    please please please baby jebus, let it be good...

  • WICGuardian

    Posted Nov 4, 2009 6:39 pm GMT

    Gentleman start your engines the console war is about to begin!

  • AlmightyMax

    Posted Oct 16, 2009 4:45 pm GMT

    Are these Wii shots? Because it's very pretty.

  • shadowroy64

    Posted Oct 12, 2009 1:55 pm GMT

    I wonder if it just turns out to be a sonic version of Mario Kart Wii...

  • Renaissance7

    Posted Sep 23, 2009 7:19 am GMT

    I'm looking forward to this game. Hopefully the graphics for Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing will surpass those of Mario Kart DS on the DSi since the DSi has the strength to carry graphics that will rival those of the past DS systems and run neck in neck with that of the iPhone/iPod Touch and PSP.

  • sco-fisticated

    Posted Sep 20, 2009 5:17 am GMT

    sounds really good. i only have one question though. why is Beat on a skateboard?

  • Antero80X

    Posted Sep 6, 2009 5:40 pm GMT

    *like

  • Antero80X

    Posted Sep 6, 2009 5:40 pm GMT

    looks lie a mario kart wii game but cooler but to make so great that gamers will buy it immediatly they should put as a seonndary vehicle a air board from sonic riders

  • JMCDS45

    Posted Sep 6, 2009 3:45 pm GMT

    This looks really cool, but I'm not gonna excited becouse I might het disappointed

  • hyperkass

    Posted Sep 5, 2009 3:17 am GMT

    should of made it a original iphone/ipod touch title..

  • KingSlow

    Posted Sep 4, 2009 5:20 pm GMT

    I just hope it isn't a mario kart rip off

  • Spider-Jim

    Posted Sep 4, 2009 2:32 am GMT

    I really want this to be good, I'm scared but I HOPE!!!!

  • -Pi3-

    Posted Sep 4, 2009 12:34 am GMT

    @TSB-G
    And before that was Sonic Drift.

  • TSB-G

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 2:48 pm GMT

    Ok, some of you probably don't know this, but, there was a Sonic R Racing game made years ago and it sucks badly. The graphics were somewhat lowsy and the controls were wonky. Sega probably thought they'd make up for that mistake of nature and make a new and improved Sonic racing game. I hope this is better than the last one.